23 Westchester Elected Officials Urge Senator Stewart-Cousins to Reduce Plastic Packaging by 50%
Westchester elected officials and organizations emphasize positive local financial, environmental, and health impacts of reducing single-use plastic packaging by 50%
For Immediate Release: May 31, 2024
Contact: Marissa Solomon, marissa@pythiapublic.com, 734-330-0807
WESTCHESTER, N.Y. — This morning, 23 elected officials from Westchester and 23 Westchester organizations sent letters to Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins. In two separate letters, they urged the Majority Leader to pass the strongest Packaging Reduction and Recycling Infrastructure Act possible and reduce single-use plastic packaging by 50%. Further, it is important that the final bill not include loopholes that would allow big companies not to comply with the law.
The elected officials — including the mayors of Scarsdale, New Rochelle, White Plains, Hastings-on-Hudson, among others — write, “Most of Westchester County’s waste is sent to the Peekskill incinerator, at great taxpayer expense and at the expense of the health of Westchester residents. While we appreciate the provision of the bill that puts new fees on single-use packaging, the most significant taxpayer savings will come from the 50% reduction requirement. This will mean less packaging to pick up in diesel trucks and less packaging that will be charged a tipping fee at the Peekskill incinerator. We have all heard the refrain ‘reduce, reuse, recycle.’ This bill will require reuse and refill, which is much more important than recycling since most plastics are not designed to be recycled.”
Read the letter from elected officials here, and below.
The organizations — including Peekskill NAACP, League of Women Voters Rivertowns, Westchester Alliance for Sustainable Solutions, Hudson River Sloop Clearwater and several Mothers Out Front chapters and various Westchester Indivisible groups, — write, “We recognize that you are hearing from various opponents, but there is massive public support for Senate bill 4246-B. Polling released on May 22, 2024, by Siena, found that 82% of New York voters say single-use plastic packaging is a problem and 67% support the New York Packaging Reduction and Recycling Infrastructure Act, including support from more than three-quarters of Democrats, two-thirds of independents, and a plurality of Republicans.”
Read the letter from organizations here, and below.
Letter from elected officials
May 31, 2024
The Honorable Andrea Stewart-Cousins
Senate Majority Leader
NYS Capitol
Albany, New York 12247
Re: Support Senate bill 4246-B, sponsored by Senator Pete Harckham, The NY Packaging Reduction and Recycling Infrastructure Act
Dear Senator Stewart-Cousins:
Rarely does the state government have the opportunity to pass a bill that will protect the environment, protect public health and save an enormous amount of tax dollars. That is exactly what the Packaging Reduction and Recycling Infrastructure Act will do and we, the undersigned 23 Westchester elected officials, urge you to pass the strongest version of the bill possible before the senate adjourns on June 6.
The people of Westchester County will benefit from this bill.
Most of Westchester County’s waste is sent to the Peekskill incinerator, at great taxpayer expense and at the expense of the health of Westchester residents. While we appreciate the provision of the bill that puts new fees on single-use packaging, the most significant taxpayer savings will come from the 50% reduction requirement. This will mean less packaging to pick up in diesel trucks and less packaging that will be charged a tipping fee at the Peekskill incinerator. We have all heard the refrain “reduce, reuse, recycle.” This bill will require reuse and refill, which is much more important than recycling since most plastics are not designed to be recycled.
Local governments also spend a lot of money picking up litter. Plastic litter does not biodegrade and lasts for centuries. This bill will result in less litter for local governments to have to pick up.
Long Island Sound, the Bronx River, and the Hudson River have far too much plastic pollution. This bill will reduce that plastic loading into water bodies.
And finally, there are recent studies showing microplastics being identified in human blood, brain, liver, kidneys, placenta, and breast milk. A medical study published in the New England Journal of Medicine linked microplastics and nanoplastics to increased cases of heart attacks, strokes, and premature deaths.
Over the years, you have provided strong environmental leadership on a range of issues. Getting a strong packaging reduction bill through the legislature will continue your legacy as a strong voice for protecting our environment and public health. Thanks to you and thanks to Senator Harckham for your important work on this issue.
Sincerely,
Justin Arest, Mayor, Scarsdale, NY
Yadira Ramos-Herbert, Mayor, City of New Rochelle
Nicola Armacost, Mayor, Hastings-on-Hudson
Thomas Roach, Mayor, City of White Plains
Omayra Andino, Mayor, Village of Tuckahoe
Nancy Kaboolian, Mayor, Village of Ardsley
Patricia Riley, Deputy Mayor, Peekskill
Emiljana Ulaj, Westchester County Legislator, District 9, Cortlandt, Ossining, Croton, Briarcliff, Buchanan
Erika Pierce, Westchester County Legislator, Bedford NY
Andres Castillo-Quintana, Council Member, Town of Bedford. NY
Justin Brasch, Council President, White Plains
Joy Haber, Council Member, Greenburgh
Matt Stern, Council Member, New Rochelle
Brian Fassett, Councilman, Peekskill, NY
Ellen Calves, Town Supervisor, Town of Bedford
Tony Goncalves, Town Supervisor, Town of Lewisboro
Jessica Galen, Trustee, Dobbs Ferry, NY
Georgia L Lopez, Trustee, Hastings on Hudson
Jared Rodriguez, Trustee, Sleepy Hollow
Douglass Alligood, Trustee, Village of Hastings on Hudson
Mary Taylor Behrens, Bronxville Village Trustee, Bronxville, NY
Morgen, Fleisig, Trustee, Village of Hastings on Hudson
Nicole Asquith, Trustee, Village of Pleasantville
Letter from organizations
May 31, 2024
The Honorable Andrea Stewart-Cousins
NY Senate Majority Leader
Legislative Office Building
Albany, NY 12247
Dear Senator Stewart-Cousins:
We, the undersigned 23 Westchester organizations, appreciate your leadership on a range of transformative environmental issues and now turn to you for your help in ensuring the passage of the Packaging Reduction and Recycling Infrastructure Act, Senate bill 4626-b, sponsored by Senator Pete Harckham.
As organizations based in Westchester County, we write to ask that the senate pass a strong bill that includes a requirement for companies to reduce their single-use plastic packaging by 50%. Since recycling of plastics does not work, the 50% reduction provision is important so that less plastic waste is trucked to the Peekskill incinerator and other incinerators and landfills around the state. Further, less waste means fewer tax dollars being spent to collect and handle waste. This bill will provide financial relief to taxpayers, reduce some of the worst toxic chemicals in packaging, and protect public health from dangerous and unproven “chemical recycling”.
We recognize that you are hearing from various opponents, but there is massive public support for Senate bill 4246-B. Polling released on May 22, 2024, by Siena, found that 82% of New York voters say single-use plastic packaging is a problem and 67% support the NY Packaging Reduction and Recycling Infrastructure Act, including support from more than three-quarters of Democrats, two-thirds of independents, and a plurality of Republicans.
This bill puts people over plastic. We appreciate your past efforts and now need to get the strongest bill possible over the finish line before the session adjourns in June. Thank you for your consideration.
Sincerely,
Peekskill NAACP
League of Women Voters of the Rivertowns
Westchester for Sustainable Solutions (WASS)
Mothers Out Front Northern Westchester
Save the Sound
Food & Water Watch
NYCD16-Indivisible
Indivisible Scarsdale
Peekskill 100
Larchmont/Mamaroneck Indivisible
Westchester Meditation Center
Grassroots Environmental Education
Sustainable Dobbs
Hudson River Sloop Clearwater
Bedford 2030
WESPAC Foundation, Inc.
Bronx River Parkway Reservation Conservancy
Indivisible New Rochelle
Mothers Out Front Southern Westchester
Mothers Out Front Rivertowns
Saw Mill Audubon
CURE100
Soulful Synergy, LLC
BACKGROUND
The Packaging Reduction and Recycling Infrastructure Act is widely popular - according to a new Siena poll, 82% of New York voters see single use plastic packaging as a problem, and nearly 70% of bipartisan New York voters support the bill. Notably, city and suburban voters in nearly equal measure say single-use plastic is a problem, with 83% of NYC voters and 85% of suburban voters. The strongest level of support was from Latino voters and women.
The legislation is also popular within the Legislature, with 78 cosponsors in the assembly and 34 in the senate — a majority in both houses.
The Assembly Codes, Ways and Means, and Environmental Conservation Committees passed the bill and the bill is now in the Assembly Rules Committee. In the Senate, the legislation sits in the Finance Committee after passing the Environmental Conservation Committee.
The Packaging Reduction and Recycling Infrastructure Act (S4246B Harckham/A5322AB Glick) will transform the way our goods are packaged. It will dramatically reduce waste and ease the burden on taxpayers by making companies, not consumers, cover the cost of managing packaging. The bill will:
Reduce plastic packaging by 50% incrementally over 12 years;
After 12 years, all packaging — including plastic, glass, cardboard, paper, and metal — must meet a recycling rate of 70%;
Prohibit packaging’s worst toxic chemicals, including vinyl chloride, PFAS, and heavy metals;
Not allow the harmful process known as chemical recycling to be considered real recycling;
Establish a modest fee on packaging paid by product producers, with new revenue going to local taxpayers; and
Establish a new Office of Inspector General to ensure proper compliance.
Because the Packaging Reduction and Recycling Infrastructure Act would save tax dollars, over 30 localities across the state have passed resolutions urging Albany leaders to pass the bill. The New York City Council recently passed a resolution in support, and Mayor Adams released a memorandum of support in favor of the legislation.
More than 300 organizations and businesses — including Beyond Plastics, NAACP, League of Women Voters, Environmental Advocates, NYPIRG, Earthjustice, Blueland, and DeliverZero — issued a memo of support stating “This bill would save tax dollars and position New York as a global leader in reducing plastic pollution.”
Plastics and Climate
Plastic production is already out of control and is expected to double in the next 20 years. As more of our energy comes from renewable sources, fossil fuel companies like Shell and Exxon are seeking to recoup falling profits by increasing plastics production and canceling out greenhouse gas reductions. In fact, half of all plastic in Earth’s history was produced in the last 20 years — the plastic we’re seeing now in our air, water, food, and bodies didn’t even exist before the year 2000.
Plastic is made from fossil fuels and toxic chemicals. Most plastics are made out of ethane, a byproduct of fracking. In 2020, plastic’s climate impacts amounted to the equivalent of nearly 49 million cars on the road, according to a conservative estimate by Material Research L3C. And that’s not including the carbon footprint associated with disposing of plastic.
Plastics and Health
Only about 6% of plastic in the United States actually gets recycled, and only 9% of all the plastic waste ever generated, globally, has been recycled! The rest ends up burned at incinerators, buried in landfills, or polluting rivers and the ocean — an estimated 33 billion pounds of plastic enter the ocean every year.
Plastic is being measured everywhere, and microplastics are entering our soil, food, water, and air. Scientists estimate people consume, on average, hundreds of thousands of microplastics per year, and these particles have been found in human placenta, breast milk, stool, blood, lungs, and testicles.
In fact, new research continues to find that the microplastics problem is worse than previously thought: New research in the New England Journal of Medicine shows that microplastics are linked to increased heart attacks, strokes and premature deaths. Another new study from Columbia University found that bottled water can contain hundreds of thousands of plastic fragments.
